I know there were holy warriors in the Old Testament, but since Jesus came and taught us the new covenant, is all violence evil? If someone is trying to kill me, does Jesus really teach not to resist?
Originally posted by Josephus
No. Violence is not taught against in the New Covenant. Otherwise Jesus would not have instructed his disciples to carry swords, or would never have overturned the tables in the Temple. Jesus also says that the Kingdom of Heaven advances by violence in the spiritual realm.
Oh, the New Covenant is certainly all about violence! When Jesus says to turn the other cheek, he is refering to the times when one is persecuted for the sake of making a point: love your enemies, do not hate them. Give them the extra mile, the benefit of the doubt, the chance to see that you love them, but stand up for yourself; unless there is a divine reason not to.
Originally posted by s0uljah
Othniel-
A man punches a pacifist in the face.
The pacifist turns the other cheek.
The man punches him in the face, hard.
The pacifist turns the other cheek.
The man punches him in the face, harder.
Repeat this scenario.
At some point you have to defend yourself, don't you?
Originally posted by s0uljah
Would you let your wife be beaten by someone, while you ran away?
What if you couldn't run away? What if you were cornered? At what point is it ok to defend yourself and then try and escape"?
Originally posted by s0uljah
But Jesus escaped many times when it wasn't His time to die.
Originally posted by papakapp
You can draw one of two conclusions from this
1)he was so in awe from seing the glory of God that he could not walk on his own
2)he did not go willingly
No matter which conclusion you draw, neither one implies that we should chose physical abuse over physical safety